1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a search engine that captures and stores user activity data and uses the stored data to refine search rankings and to methods implemented on a computer for capturing, storing and analyzing user activity data and refining rankings in subsequent searches.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a search engine that after displaying search results captures and stores user activity data. The user activity data is then analyzed and used to refine ranking in search results in subsequent searches where the ranking protocol will include user activity data, record based data and relationships derived therefrom. The accumulated user activity data can be used to improve search results, improve search efficiency and improve list rankings so better service the user.
2. Description of the Related Art
Search engines are well-established in the industry. The search engines provide users with a procedure for finding data in a database. Unfortunately, the current search engines use a ranking for displaying records that meet a particular query in whole or in part which is derived from the data in the record that meet the query criteria. Thus, if a record includes many references to a given search term, it may be placed higher on the list which the user must scroll through. There simply is no user derived data other than the search query to aid in ranking records. Thus, there is a need in the art for a search engine that incorporates into its ranking criteria the user activity data.